title: Infrared radiation from hot cones on cool conifers attracts seed-feeding insects.
abstract: Foraging animals use diverse cues to locate resources. Common foraging cues have visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile or gustatory characteristics. Here, we show a foraging herbivore using infrared (IR) radiation from living plants as a host-finding cue. We present data revealing that (i) conifer cones are warmer and emit more near-, mid- and long-range IR radiation than needles, (ii) cone-feeding western conifer seed bugs, Leptoglossus occidentalis (Hemiptera: Coreidae), possess IR receptive organs and orient towards experimental IR cues, and (iii) occlusion of the insects' IR receptors impairs IR perception. The conifers' cost of attracting cone-feeding insects may be offset by occasional mast seeding resulting in cone crops too large to be effectively exploited by herbivores.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takács
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bottomley
authors.forename: Iisak
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Andreller
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zaradnik
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.forename: Robb
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: Ward
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Strong
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gries
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003463:Cues; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000528:radiation effects; D005260:Female; D006358:Hot Temperature; D007259:Infrared Rays; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017956:Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012639:Seeds; D064028:Tracheophyta